


The Tiniest Miko

by Ciryes



Category: Touhou Project
Genre: Childhood, Gen, Parenthood, School, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-21
Updated: 2017-09-21
Packaged: 2019-01-03 18:56:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12152772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ciryes/pseuds/Ciryes
Summary: Sanae wants to show off her role as the Moriya shrine maiden for her elementary school's show-and-tell day, but a group of bullies are making that difficult for her.





	The Tiniest Miko

"Mama-kamisama! Can I wear my miko outfit to school!? Can I?"

Another usual afternoon in the Kochiya household, of course; it would have been more of a surprise if little Sanae _hadn't_ come sprinting home from school excitedly squealing about something that had happened that day. That girl was in a near-perpetual state of excitement, it was a wonder she didn't burst from all the energy. She'd already dropped her bag and kicked off her shoes, and was hopping enthusiastically at the feet of-

"To school? Are you allowed to wear anything other than a uniform, Sanae-chan?"

-the kami of the heavens, Kanako Yasaka, who, as usual, was already busying herself with preparations for that night's dinner. Such menial tasks didn't quite befit one of her divine status, but not even Sanae could pull off the miracle of actually getting lazy old Suwako to do _work_ , and with her parents absent, _someone_ responsible had to tend to the needs of the future shrine maiden of Moriya.

"Mhmm, mhmm! Tomorrow at school is show-and-tell day and I'm gonna show everybody my gohei and tell them about the shrine and about you and nee-kamisama and about miko work and how to worship and I asked my teacher if it was okay for me to wear my miko clothes so I could show those too and she-"

The child coughed, and paused for a moment to take a hurried breath, eager to continue speaking as soon as she'd gotten the bare minimum amount of air she needed for the rest of her sentence.

"-told me it was okay and I was allowed to and wear it so I can show everybody in my class when I do show-and-tell so can I wear it? Is that okay? Please please please please please can I? Please please please-"

"Well, if your teacher said it was alright," Kanako replied, looking down with a smile and a small laugh at Sanae, who was staring back with desperately pleading eyes, "then there's not a problem, is there? Is it clean?"

"Yes! Thank you! Thank you, thank you mama-kamisama, thank you!"

The child darted forward and nearly knocked all six and a half feet of goddess over with the force of her grateful hug, and she had to hurriedly steady the pot so it didn't fall over.

"Oh, and yes, it's clean! I put it in the wash yesterday when I was done with it!"

"Well, why don't you go and hang it on your closet for tomorrow morning?"

"Okay!~"

The goddess watched the girl run off into the hall with a fond smile. While it was never an easy task for a god to show such a level of humility, Kanako admittedly found the role of a human parent quite pleasant. It was a necessity, of course - for legal reasons, Sanae needed to have somebody acting as her guardian, somebody to show up at her parent-teacher meetings, or else there would be an enormous amount of trouble with the human authorities. And she also needed someone to videotape her school play and cheer her on, and encourage her, and give her the wisdom she needed - and Kanako would have happily taken to all of these responsibilities even if it _wasn't_  needed, just to see every single pure, happy smile on that little girl's face. On days like these, when her little miracle just couldn't contain her excitement over something, she realized just how truly blessed she was to know such a lovely young girl.

"Kanako, you're going to burn the rice."

Suwako, still clad in pajamas, hidden under a blanket, and barely looking up from the Game Boy she was playing in the corner, decided to point this out when she noticed a trail of smoke heading up from the pot.

"The ri..? Th-The rice!" exclaimed Kanako, who immediately returned her attention to the food, face tinging red. "Right, the rice..."

"Spacing out again? How undignified!" the earth goddess teased.

"Hmph. Just look at yourself, why don't you."

* * *

 

"...well, Setsuko-chan, that was a lovely story about your toy cat, thank you for telling us! I'm sure your visit to Hokkaido must have been a lot of fun! Now, let's see, next... ah, Sanae?"

Show-and-tell was already in progress, and all the eyes in the room turned to the girl dressed in a traditional miko's outfit instead of a school uniform as she excitedly carried a small wooden box up to the front of the room with so much haste that she almost tripped over somebody's bag before she made it halfway, which triggered a few giggles. People had evidently been the most curious about this one - if it necessitated a special outfit, then it was probably something exciting, right?

Sanae turned around in front of the blackboard with an enormous grin on her face and a very Sanae-ish shine in her eyes - she'd clearly been waiting for this moment ever since show-and-tell had been announced in the first place. She looked up to the teacher near-pleadingly, permission to begin the only thing holding her back from spewing a waterfall of excited words, evidently.

"Can I start? Can I start yet? Can I start, can I-"

"Yes, Sanae, you can start!"

"Okay!" And without another wasted second, the girl turned to face her class and immediately burst into an excited and practiced spiel.

"Today I'm gonna tell you about my job as a miko! It's super important and special because I get to look after the shrine and it's called the Moriya Shrine and I do very special work to help my gods and it's really fun and I have a bunch of stuff to show, look, look!"

She pulled open the box, and withdrew her wooden gohei, followed by curious eyes as she held it up.

"This is my gohei, it's a special tool used for purification and blessings and dances and other stuff!" There were a few laughs as she jumped and danced around the front of the room, striking a few poses. "See? Like that! Mama-k, my, my mama helped me make it! See, isn't it pretty? And next I have-"

She put the gohei back, and continued to dig around in the box, this time pulling out a bunch of amulets and holding them up for the class to see.

"These are called ofuda! The writing on them says 'Yasaka' and 'Moriya', see? Those are the names of my gods, and they're really strong and important and their power is in them! And here it says 'Moriya Shrine', see? That's the name of my shrine, so you know where it came from!"

"Wait, Moriya? You mean that old shrine by the lake that nobody ever goes to?"

Sanae paused, eyes moving towards the side of the room, where one of the boys had suddenly piped up, a sly smirk on his face.

"...We _do_ get visitors, actually, a _lot_  of visitors," Sanae asserted, eyes narrowing in irritation, and continued. "You can hang these up in your house, and you'll be under Yasaka-sama and Moriya-sama's divine protection, keeping you healthy and safe from danger!"

"I dunno, do I really want protection from whatever stupid gods live in that dumb, dusty shrine?" the boy asked again, to a couple of laughs from his group of friends.

"They're not stupid and it's _not_  dumb!" Sanae suddenly shouted, causing a few of the other kids to jump in their seats. "And it's not dusty, either! I sweep and clean up every day to make sure it looks nice, so don't you tell me it's-"

"Sanae, Sanae," the teacher suddenly interrupted, "it's alright. You don't have to defend yourself. Takeshi-kun, you're being incredibly rude right now. Please don't interrupt Sanae while she's talking, alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure."

More snickers from the group of children at the side, and Sanae gave a long stare to make sure he or the others didn't have any other _remarks_ to make, before raising her head and continuing, trying to ignore her annoyance.

"There are specific ones, too! See, this one goes in your car and keeps you safe on the road, and this one goes in your kitchen and prevents fires, and these ones go on your door and ward away evil spirits-"

"Oh no, _ghosts?_ Wow, I'm _soooo_ scared!"

"Takeshi!"

"Shut _up!"_

_"Sanae!"_

Takeshi looked slightly startled, as did his friends, and the teacher seemed more than a little aggravated. Sanae was practically _fuming_ at this point, and the fact that Takeshi's dumb smile wasn't going away wasn't making it any better.

"Takeshi! I already told you not to interrupt Sanae. If you do it again, it'll be a detention. Sanae, you're not allowed to speak like that, do you understand? If there's a problem, I'll deal with it. Now, would you like to continue?"

Sanae clenched her fists for a moment, staring down the group of sniggering boys for a few seconds. They were getting _her_ in trouble, now. She sighed. They weren't likely to say anything else after that, right? She returned to her box, taking out more of the ofuda.

"... _Anyway_ , my mama said it was okay if I gave everybody a few of these, so put them somewhere special, okay?"

The girl then spent the next minute going around the room, placing an amulet on everybody's desk. She'd counted them carefully the night before, making sure there would be enough for everybody. When she got to Takeshi's desk, she put it down _incredibly_ pointedly, as if just _daring_ him to say something, and smirked when he, thankfully, kept his big mouth shut. However, as soon as she began to walk away, she heard the quiet noise of ripping paper, and stopped in her tracks.

A look behind her confirmed her suspicions - Takeshi held the two halves of the amulet up in each hand, sticking out his tongue, as his friends laughed and did the same.

At this point, Sanae had had _enough_ , and she dropped the box, which clattered onto the floor and sent its contents spilling everywhere. Without hesitating, she charged directly at him, and the ensuing impact sent him and his chair crashing to the floor, causing both his friends and a bunch of the other students to panic.

"Sanae! Sanae, _stop!"_ yelled the teacher, hurrying over to break up the fight, but Sanae, however, payed her no heed, and shook the boy angrily by the shoulders. All she wanted at this point was for him to shut his mouth, those were _important_ he couldn't just be ripping them like that those were special and they were symbols of her gods and he couldn't just _do_ that and then he started to pull her hair and she kicked her leg and kneed him in the jaw and as much as she wanted to continue and punch that dumb smirk off his face she was being physically pulled away at this point, and-

And so she had to make do with yelling. A lot. As she was dragged out of the room along with Takeshi, leaving a room full of utterly dumbstruck children in their wake.

* * *

 

"Really, Sanae? Detention? The principal's office? I had to leave the office early because you got into a _fight_ , and then _detention?"_

Kanako held open the car door for Sanae with a disappointed stare. She never liked having to ask to leave work - being forced to humble herself and apologize to her human 'boss' was never a pleasant affair, but since she wouldn't be able to get the bus today, there'd been no choice.

"..."

She sighed. She couldn't let her frustration control her now. But she still couldn't believe _Sanae_ of all people had gotten into a _fight_ at school. She was an energetic and strong-willed girl, sure, but that usually manifested as pure excitement, or... accidentally running face-first into a wall because she was pretending to be a mecha, or something like that. This was... very much unlike her, and it was incredibly worrying.

"...Sanae-chan, What could have possibly gotten into you? I don't understand, what on Earth possessed you to knock that boy out of his chair? I almost didn't believe it when I heard. You aren't the sort of girl who'd ever do something like that."

"..."

"Sanae? Please, I'd like you to tell me."

"...S'nothing." Sanae mumbled, hiding her face in her arms. Kanako grew even more worried. The way she'd acted - and the way she was _acting_ , suggested that something upsetting had happened. She'd been told of an incident during show-and-tell, but she desperately wanted to know the full story.

"It doesn't _sound_ like it was nothing. It sounds like he must have done something terrible to you for you to react like that. Could you please tell me what's wrong?"

Sanae was quiet for a long while, but noticed that the goddess' voice sounded... sympathetic, motherly, worried more than angry, and slowly raised her head, revealing a tear-streaked face.

"I-it's _not_ stupid," was the first thing she said, stammered through a half-sob, and she brought her hands to her eyes as she continued. "I-it's _not_ stupid, it's not, m-mama-kamis-sama..."

At seeing this, Kanako startled slightly, leaning in closer to the girl's seat and gingerly wiping at her cheek. "A-ah? What's not stupid? What happened, dear?"

"H-he said th-that y-you and S-Suwako-nee-kamisama were stupid and that there weren't visitors b-because the sh-shrine was dumb and dirty and h-he m-made fun of the ofuda a-and, when I g-gave him one, he r-ripped it in half," she explained, words peppered with sniffles, "A-and, th, the others r-ripped them u-up too and, a-and they all l-laughed."

"Really?" Kanako's eyes narrowed in disdain. To think that children would be so cruel just to entertain themselves. "That's awfully cruel of them. Of _course_ it's not stupid. It just sounds like he's being very ungrateful. You were doing a very nice thing for your class, and telling them about something that's very important to you and all of us. It's no wonder you're upset. Oh, Sanae-chan, shh, it's alright."

Sanae nodded, although she didn't really feel like bringing her gaze anywhere above her knees. Kanako patted her gently on the head, and then helped strap her into her seat.

"Don't listen to that sort of thing, alright? It isn't true." A brief pause, before the inevitable rebuke, of course. "But you know, it's never acceptable to hit people, even if you're mad at them. I hope your detention helped you realize that. If there's ever a problem like that, it isn't your job to take it into your own hands. You tell a teacher, or you tell me. Do you understand?"

Another small nod from the green-haired girl, and she retreated somewhat shamefully into her chair.

"...Regardless, let's not worry about it now. You've already been punished, yes? Let's just go home now, alright? We'll have something nice to eat."

"Alright..."

* * *

 

"Sanae-chan, why don't you go and gather up your miko outfit for me?" asked Kanako that evening, as she was busying herself with that evening's laundry. Sanae was sitting quietly on the couch, so the goddess figured she had nothing else important to be doing. "I'll put it in the wash so you can have it for tomorrow."

"Um... that's okay, I... I don't really wanna wear it anymore," came Sanae's somewhat-hesitant response.

"Hmm? Well, that's fine, but can you get it anyway? I'm not saying you have to put it on now, we just don't want to leave dirty clothes lying around, do we?"

"No, I just... don't feel like wearing it again. You don't need to wash it."

"What do you..."

That was certainly an odd response; Kanako turned around, and noticed the girl's odd expression, staring solemnly at her fingers. She'd been wanting to wear her miko outfit around the house all day for the past week, so this was quite an unexpected change of mood. Unless...

"...Sanae," she asked after a moment of worried consideration, "Are you still thinking about earlier?"

"...It's... It's just stupid," the girl replied quietly, voice a little choked up. "I'm not wearing it again, people are only gonna think it's dumb."

She sounded _crushed_ , and the words weighed heavily on Kanako's heart as well. She stood up, leaving the laundry, and took a seat beside her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Sanae, you aren't really going to believe what that one boy said about your clothes, are you?"

"..."

"Why should it matter what one impertinent child says about your outfit, hmm? You really like it, don't you? What's important is what _you_ think about it, isn't that right?"

"...But it makes me look really dumb. E-everybody laughed at me."

"...Do you really think so? Because I don't think it does." A little encouraging smile. "In fact, I think it makes you look incredibly cute! And every time I see you wearing it, it makes me realize how much you've grown, and what a special and responsible girl you are, already ready to be the shrine maiden of Moriya."

Sanae moved her gaze up to meet Kanako's with hopeful eyes. "Y-you really think so, m-mama-kamisama?"

"Oh, of course I think so. It makes me so incredibly happy to think that my wonderful little girl is following in her mother's footsteps. Every time I see you in your miko clothes, I'm reminded of that, and it makes me so, so very proud of you. I'm sure your mother would be proud of you, too."

The goddess leaned forward and wrapped Sanae in her arms, and the child buried her face in the woman's shoulder, little fingers clutching shakily at the fabric of her shirt. She couldn't keep herself from crying at this point; today had been an exhausting day.

"O-okay, o, o-ka-ay,"

"Shh, there, there. It's alright." Kanako gently rubbed the girl's back, holding her tightly. "If you like your miko outfit, and it's important to you, then you don't have to let _anybody_ else tell you how you should feel about it. All that matters is that wearing it makes you feel nice. If anybody tries to take that away from you, then they're not even worth listening to. The miko of the Moriya Shrine is a very important role, and you're allowed to be proud! Do you understand?"

A small nod and a little relieved breath from Sanae.

"There you go, there you go. Now why don't you go and bring your outfit, alright? I can set it out for you for when you get home from school."

"O-okay."

The girl smiled again, and Kanako couldn't help but mimic it, and the both of them laughed together.

* * *

 

The next day, after class had finished and everybody had been let out, Sanae was walking down the hallway, and had almost made it to the door, when-

"Hey! Heeey, shrine girl, not wearing your miko pajamas today? Hahaha!~"

Sanae's fists tightened a little at the mere sound of Takeshi's voice, but remembering what Kanako had said yesterday evening, she took a deep breath, and continued walking.

"What, just gonna give us the cold shoulder now? I'm talking to you!"

"Nah, she's just too busy talking to her imaginary friends to hear you!"

Giggles aplenty from behind her back. Sanae couldn't believe he and his friends were being this persistent just the day after they'd both been in detention and the principal's office. She stopped, turning to face him and his entourage of giggling cronies with a disapproving glare.

"I... I don't care what you have to say," the girl carefully replied, carefully considering Kanako's advice. "I like my miko outfit and it's a special way to show I'm close to my gods, and so I don't care if you say anything like that." She folded her arms defiantly.

"Gods?" The boy laughed. "Everybody knows shrines are just a tourist attraction, and miko are just there to look nice. It's not _that_ special. You're only talking about gods and stuff because you think it makes you look cool." Again, more laughs, and Sanae's eyes narrowed in annoyance.

(...For a moment, it almost felt like a strange breeze had blown through the hallway.)

"Admit it, you've just got a weird hobby that you brag about for attention. Everybody thinks you're weird!"

"...That's not true." Sanae replied, and once again, the odd wind blew through the hall. The other boys looked around in confusion, and Takeshi seemed only slightly suspicious. How could it be like that if they weren't outside? Figuring it was nothing, he turned his gaze back to Sanae, and crossed his arms, closing his eyes.

"Yeah it is. Miko are dumb, and _you're_ dumb. What are you gonna do? You gonna punch me again and get more detention, huh?"

He expected more of the usual laughter, but surprisingly, the other boys began to react with what sounded like _panic_.

When he opened his eyes again, somewhat concerned, he realized there was a figure behind Sanae that _definitely_ wasn't there before.

The shadowy outline of a woman, nearly eight feet in height, with a massive rope ring behind her, towering before a row of wooden pillars. Bright red glowing eyes like a snake's stared him down intensely, and the wind picked up again, stronger than ever. A few of the boys squealed and fled off in the opposite direction. Takeshi only took a few worried steps back, but even he seemed a little freaked out, nearly dropping his bag in the process of running away.

"I-I'm sorry! I'm sorry, okay, I didn't mean it! I take it back, I take it baaaack!"

"H-huh?" Sanae turned around, almost a little panicked herself, but there didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary. Just empty hallway. She looked back to where the boys had run off, incredibly confused as to what had frightened them. Did... they think she was going to try and hit them again, or something? Well... as concerning as it was, if they weren't bothering her anymore, she wasn't complaining.

She grabbed the straps of her bag, and strode confidently out the school doors. She was the Moriya miko, and she was happy to be, and nobody else could tell her otherwise.


End file.
